The essays in the present book, written by an international group of scholars, try to answer these - and many other - questions by inititing a dialogue between academic and artistic research. Behind all the essays is a mixture of fascination and dissatisfaction with today's performances of drama and opera classics, particularly those that take place in historic theatres, and those operating within the so-called Historically Informed Performance movement. The essays reflect a desire to develop and expand the methods traditionally used by theatre historians. And they present a variety of angles on today's performances in historic theatres and on today's attempts to revive theatrical practices of the past. The anthology is essential reading for theatre scholars and musicologists studying eighteenth-century performance as well as for theatre and opera artists concerned with period performance practice. |